CINCINNATI — Snow-blocked crosswalks and covered sidewalks made it difficult for some Cincinnati students to get to school on Thursday.
Cindy Wendling is a crossing guard at Dater Montessori, a Cincinnati public school for preschool to sixth grade. Wendling works every day to keep students safe, but she says on Thursday it was a bit harder to do.
“The snow is really making it worse,” said Wendling.
That snow is blocking the two main crosswalks in front of the school and covering sidewalks students use to get home. It's forcing students to climb over snow banks and walk in it, many without the proper shoes or clothes to do so.
“They can’t get over that hill, and the kids are crying, mom is trying to pick them up, and she's stumbling so she’s almost falling,” said Wendling.
Wendling said before school it was very unsafe as none of the sidewalks had snow removed from them and there was no path to the crosswalks. This forced her to take students around the snow and into the street.
During school on Thursday, a small path was created for one of the crosswalks, but the other crosswalk and sidewalks remained untouched. She said even with the path, it’s still unsafe.
“I have to tell them, 'Move back, move back,' so we can get it off of the street, so when these cars pull around the corner they’re not gonna hit us,” said Wendling. “Kids have been hit in crosswalks before when there was no snow. So what are we gonna do with this?”
Wendling said something needs to be done before someone is seriously hurt, and a plan should have been made before the storm.
“First of all, this should have been thought of way before today. Let’s think of the stuff in the future, let’s have a plan,” said Wendling.
Wendling also suggested paying someone to use a snow blower to clear the sidewalks and a better path to the crosswalk.
With more snow expected on Friday, Wendling is afraid it would be even more dangerous. CPS has canceled school for Friday, Jan. 10.
We eached out to CPS to see if they were aware of the snow at Dater Montessori, and if they had a plan to fix it. They told me they were looking into it and have not yet provided an official answer.
